JFSP Fire Science Exchange Network
Biogeomorphic Responses to Wildfire in Fluvial Ecosystems draws together interdisciplinary studies and reviews that highlight key insights important to support heterogeneity, biodiversity, and resilience in fluvial ecosystems (Florsheim et al., 2024).
Read MoreSupported by the Clark County (Nevada) Desert Conservation Program and the California Fire Science Consortium, we completed a status of knowledge synthesis of restoration practices aimed at enhancing recovery of damaged habitats in the Mojave and western Sonoran Desert, some of the driest locations in North America.
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Read MoreThis study uses tree cores gathered at three 4-hectare plots to make inferences about temporal aspects of tree recruitment in pine-dominated ecosystems of the California Sierra Nevada and the Sierra San Petro Martir in northwestern Mexico.
Read MoreIn this paper, the authors quantify change in the extent of mature conifer forests in the southern Sierra Nevada of California during 2011-2020, a decade and ecoregion characterized by compounding severe wildfires and drought follow prolonged fire exclusion.
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Read MoreThis study uses bio-acoustical monitoring to characterize the habitat of mountain quail in the California Sierra Nevada. Findings include that high severity wildfires may promote vegetation structures that are beneficial for mountain quail.
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Read MoreTo help managers make science-based decisions that incorporate wildlife information, this study experimentally compared the effects of two pre-fire vegetation reduction treatments (prescribed burning and shrub mastication) on the chaparral bird community.
Read MoreBumble bees are important pollinators of native plant species. This brief provides information that can support managers in making nuanced decisions to benefit bumble bees during post-fire management.
Read MoreFuture moderate and high-severity fires may pose a substantial threat to the long-term persistence of the California spotted owl (Strix occidentalis occidentalis).
Read MoreDuring normal levels of beetle activity, fuel treatment reductions either cause no trees to die from beetles or just a few. If tree deaths occur, they reinforce fuel hazard reduction and forest restoration goals.
Read MoreOverall, the results of this study add support to the existing theory that diverse fire increases biodiversity in certain ecosystems. Specifically, this study showed that higher diversity of fire severity patterns within a fire lead to more bird diversity, especially in the fire prone semi-arid forests of the Sierra Nevada.
Photo: Nine years after the Moonlight fire in Plumas county, California, the landscape shows remarkable resilience with a diversity of habitat structure and birds. Photo courtesy Morgan Tingley.
Read MoreThe King Fire burned through an area used for a long-term (23 years) demography study of spotted owls in the central Sierra Nevada, allowing the authors to compare the number and distribution of owls both before and one year after the fire.
Read MoreIn a collaborative project funded by the non-profit Desert Tortoise Council with Natural Resource Conservation LLC, the authors synthesized published literature and practitioner’s experiences to develop best-management practices for habitats of desert tortoises.
Read MoreThis presentation was given at the Desert Symposium 2014.
Presenter: Nussear et al.
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This brief discusses how to improve forage for the threatened desert tortoise through increasing abundance of native plant forage species.
Read MoreThis brief discusses the findings from an in-depth synthesis of animal responses to fires in California shrubland systems.
Read MoreIn this study, the average core area of the owls’ pre-fire forest habitat was 106 ha with a greater proportion of hardwoods compared to an average core area of 180 ha in the Sierra in which conifers dominate.
Read MoreThis ambitious four-year study assessed fire effects on the diversity of ten carnivore species and frequency of the three most common carnivore species after a 5670- ha fire in 2007.
Read MoreIn this 5-year study, the post-fire populations and microhabitat preferences of four small mammal species were compared. The study analyzed preferences in unburned, moderate and high-severity fire in mixed conifer forest.
Read MorePresented at the 2nd Annual Southern Chaparral Symposium, 2015. Shurblands like chaparral support (either directly or indirectly) numerous animal species. This presentation discusses the diversity of shurbland ecosystems, challenges to biodiversity, and has numerous photographic examples of animal diversity.
Presenter: Megan Jennings
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A 2015 study indicates that the reintroduction of fire in frequent fire forests of the Sierra Nevada creates a heterogeneous forest landscape and promotes diverse small mammal assemblages.
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The California Fire Science Consortium is divided into 4 geographic regions and 1 wildland-urban interface (WUI) team. Statewide coordination of this program is based at UC Berkeley.
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This regional Fire Science Exchange is one of 15 regional fire science exchanges sponsored by Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP).
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